Santos, Polkinghorne crowned at Miss Mendocino County pageant

Two winners were crowned at the Miss Mendocino County Scholarship Pageant Saturday night, held at Ukiah High School.

Jill Santos was crowned Miss Mendocino County 2013, and Olivia Polkinghorne took the crown this year as Miss North Coast.

Pageant Executive Director Verna Jacobs announced onstage at the beginning of the evening that the judges would be awarding the two crowns because of outstanding support for this year's scholarship program, which raised $25,100.

Both titleholders will receive identical scholarships of $5,000 and both winners will have the opportunity to represent Mendocino County at the Miss California Scholarship Program in June.

Santos wowed the judges and audience with her talent, a piano performance of "A River Flows in You." She will promote her community service platform, "Music and Art Therapy for the Elderly," throughout the next year working with the local pageant, the Miss California Organization, Miss America Organization and the Children's Miracle Network.

Santos, a senior at Ukiah High School, not only excelled in her school endeavors but has also been very active in community affairs. She is growing her hair long to donate it to Locks of Love. She plans to obtain an MBA after graduating, has completed one-third of the required units for an Associate's Degree, completed hospice-palliative care training and studied a year of American sign language. Her major sponsors were her parents, Jay and Elizabeth Santos.

Polkinghorne, the new Miss North Coast representative, earned rousing applause from the audience when she sang her soulful rendition of "Summertime" for her talent program. She promoted a platform of "Affordable Education through Community College," and will make appearances promoting it throughout the county and state. Her major sponsor was Amanda Devlin.

Polkinghorne also has excelled in academics, community volunteerism and has performed locally as a vocalist. She will graduate from Butte College in June with a 4.0 GPA, and plans to become an environmental attorney and have a role in protecting people from harmful pollutants and climate change.

Excitement built throughout the evening as the audience awaited the judges' decisions.

Each contestant was judged in a personal interview on Saturday afternoon, as well as in the categories of talent, evening wear, on-stage question and physical fitness Saturday evening. Under the Miss America guidelines, the contestants were not judged against each other but rather on the presentation of their "very best self" in each category.

Winning the title of first runner-up and a $2,500 scholarship was Kinderlynn Marie Shields, who sang "The Greatest Love of All" for her talent program, and has a platform of "Gang Awareness and Prevention."

The second runner-up title and a $2,000 scholarship was awarded to Renee Suzy Loren. She sang "These Boots are Made for Walking" and her platform, "The Dog Days are Over," is aimed at curtailing animal abuse.

Awarded third runner-up honors was Michaela Donohue, who received a $1,500 scholarship. The five remaining contestants, Rachel Duncan, Megan Marie Arana, Mariana Burns-Bernier, Madelyn Kroppmann and Kindyl Marci Houston, each received a non-finalist $650 scholarship for participating.

Special recognition was given to Contestant Kinderlynn Shields, who raised an outstanding amount of $10,325 for the total scholarship amounts presented. Shields was awarded a trophy and a special scholarship award equal to 30 percent of the total sponsorships she obtained to share with her fellow contestants.

All pageant contestants participate in a sponsorship program whereby they help the pageant committee raise funds for their awards. Shields raised the money by presenting her platform, career goals and college ambitions to local businesses and organizations, and therefore received an Outstanding Scholarship Achievement Award of $3,100.

Voted the Punky Hammell Miss Congeniality Award by their fellow contestants were Michaela Donohue and Kinderlynn Shields, and each of them received a $200 scholarship sponsored by the Mike and Leslee Woll family in memory of Punky Hammell.

The Priscilla Ryan Spirit of Achievement Award of $250 was presented to Kinderlynn Shields for her achievements in every area of preparation for the pageant.

Miss Mendocino County and Miss North Coast also each received a $550 teeth whitening treatment from Limbird Dentistry. Additionally, a donation of $1,000 was made to the Children's Miracle Network on behalf of the 10 contestants, the evening's grand total of awards to $25,100. The Children's Miracle Network is the national platform of Miss America 2013.

The contestants have been under an eight-week rehearsal schedule as they perfected each stage of competition. Each contestant talked with local businesses regarding the opportunity to represent them as a sponsor in the scholarship program. Jacobs, executive director of the local program, and this year's contestants wish to thank all scholarship donors for their donations.

Mendocino County's has long been one of the largest scholarship programs in the State of California and the Miss America System, and "We are eternally grateful to all sponsors for helping us raise such fabulous awards," Jacobs said.

Each young woman who participates in the program receives an academic scholarship. The Miss America Organization nationwide awarded $45 million this past year.

The evening began with Roseanne Wetzel, Miss Mendocino County 2010, singing the National Anthem, and Herron Spence, Miss Mendocino County 2012, performing a monologue for the audience. Spence represented our county at the Miss California Scholarship Program last June, winning $2,200 in scholarships to use for her education at U.C. Irvine. At the Miss California pageant, Spence was honored for her outstanding sponsorship endeavors with a Team California Award. She was also recognized by Sam Haskell, chairman of the Miss America Organization Board of Directors, with an Academic Achievement Award.

Many more volunteers helped behind the scenes with this year's program, according to Jacobs.

Judges for the evening were members of the Miss California Scholarship Program staff, executive directors in other programs and Marty Lombardi, vice president of Savings Bank of Mendocino County; Schutz Enterprises and Yokayo Bowl owner Mike Schutz; and Dr. Alan Limbird, owner of Limbird Dentistry.

To schedule Miss Mendocino County 2013 and Miss North Coast 2013 to attend a civic meeting, speak before a school or entertain for events, contact Executive Director Verna Jacobs at 462-2025, or by e-mail at rayjvj@saber.net.